2 Charged With Sex Assault Of Prisoner They Were Taking Her To Texas For A Criminal Case. Instead, Prosecutors Say, They Assaulted Her.

October 13, 1994|By Nicholas Wishart, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT This article contains information from the Associated Press

The owner of a prisoner-transportation service based in Monmouth County and an employee of the service have been charged with sexually assaulting a female prisoner being moved across state lines.

Arnold Faulhaber, 40, owner of Fugitive One Transport in Ocean Township, and Joseph Jackson, 38, of Neptune, were arrested Saturday and accused of assaulting the prisoner several times over two days.

Both were released on $50,000 bail.

In addition, both men are under investigation by New Jersey State Police for making the trip with an expired license, officials said yesterday. State law requires registration for those who provide security-guard services such as transporting inmates, said John Hagerty, spokesman for the state police.

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Fugitive One Transport, which has also transported prisoners to Gloucester and Burlington Counties, does not have an active license and has failed to submit the necessary paperwork to have its license and registration renewed, Hagerty said.

The prisoner, 35, was being transported from a federal prison in Danbury, Conn., to Dallas, Texas, where she was to appear in connection with a white- collar-crime case.

According to officials, the woman was assaulted several times along the way, and she was threatened by Faulhaber and Jackson, who said they would accuse her of trying to escape if she spoke out.

The woman said she was picked up Friday and driven to Faulhaber's office. There, she said, she was asked if she wished to go to Atlantic City with him and party instead of spending the night in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River, as arranged.

She refused, according to authorities, and was driven by Jackson to the jail. On the way, he drove to a desolate area and sexually assaulted her, the woman said.

The woman told officials that Jackson and Faulhaber threatened to accuse her of attempted escape if she told anyone about the assault.

Authorities said that a day later, Faulhaber took the woman to his home in Ocean Township and sexually assaulted her. She was assaulted again by Jackson before they both flew to Dallas, said Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye.

In Texas, the woman reported the incident to her family and prison officials, who notified Monmouth County sex-crimes investigators.

Attempts to reach Faulhaber and Jackson were unsuccessful.

Fugitive One Transport has moved prisoners in Gloucester and Burlington Counties since the beginning of 1994.

Camden County officials said yesterday that they use a service from Florida. State police provide their own transport.

Gloucester County Sheriff James Hogan, who said he was unaware of the pending charges, said yesterday that Fugitive One had been paid to return five or six prisoners from as far away as California. The company was last used in April, he said.

"We have heard nothing negative about Fugitive One," Hogan said, adding that all previous prisoners moved by the company were men. "But we will open an investigation to decide if we should continue to use the service," he said.

In Burlington County, an official said Fugitive One was awarded the contract to move prisoners for 1994. Ralph Shrom, administrative assistant for the county freeholders, said the company had collected $17,500 for an undisclosed number of jobs.

Typically, he said, Fugitive One is used for air transfers. He said there had been no reports of problems from the sheriff's office or the county prosecutor.

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